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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 9175276" data-attributes="member: 6901101">If you have DMed thousands of hours, and don't understand, I don't know what to tell you. But maybe there is a misunderstanding, since you seem to be framing this around agency. So I will do my best.  Creating the adventure, or reading it, tells you who the antagonists are. If you follow a more seat-of-your-pants approach, common sense tells you which creatures go where based on the ecosystem. If you like randomness, there are tables for that. No where in the game does the player say, "You know what DM, we see four goblins and a hill giant up ahead on the road. Get out that MM, we want to fight them." The DM creates the antagonists. And on top of that, they even control their thoughts and actions!The DM is also the one describing the environment. They can describe as little or as much of the environment they want. But no where in the game does the player say, "I walk into this cave and find a magic door. Beyond that magic door is a castle floating in the sky with an attached beanstalk." The DM is the arbiter of environment. They are the ones that choose the environment: what it looks like, the temperature, any magical effects, items, and every DC associated with said environment is in their control as well. Lastly, the DM chooses the roleplay objectives during a roleplay scene. They are deciders of how easily an NPC can be persuaded. They are the deciders of that NPC's cleverness, aggressiveness, deceptiveness, and/or receptiveness. They, just like with the antagonists and environments, set the DC for any roll that needs to be done. They can even decide when a roll is needed. If the objective is to persuade a group of travelers to leave the road because something dangerous is coming, it is the DM who sets the difficulty for that objective. The player agency is them interacting with all of these DM decisions. Maybe the group tries to intimidate the travelers to move because there is little time. That might be harder or easier depending on who the travelers are. Maybe the wizard casts an illusion to show them what is headed their way, and the rogue describes in detail the terrible things this creature can do. So the DM gives advantage to the rogue, actively making it easier. Maybe the cleric implores them by noting they have a shared holy symbol. The DM made these decisions, thus choosing the antagonists (in this case the travelers), the environment (did the DM know they shared the same belief as the cleric or exactly how much time the PCs had to persuade the travelers), and the roleplay objectives (setting the DC, choosing to give advantage or disadvantage). I hope this helps clarify what I said.</blockquote>

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